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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207409">struck by the cupid's bow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaineyDay/pseuds/RaineyDay'>RaineyDay</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Adventure Zone (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Stabbing, Taako shows up for a hot second at the end, Temporary Character Death, the blupcretia is mostly implied</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:48:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207409</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaineyDay/pseuds/RaineyDay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Febuwhump day 4: Impaling</p>
<p>The excursion to get the Light should have been easy. It should have been just a nice day out with Lup's two favorite humans.</p>
<p>It wasn't.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Barry Bluejeans/The Director | Lucretia/Lup, The Director | Lucretia &amp; Lup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>febuwhump 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>struck by the cupid's bow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't supposed to be a difficult excursion. The Light had landed at the top of a mountain, in an isolated region that was hard to reach by foot but easy in a ship like the Starblaster.</p>
<p>As far as they could tell, the isolation of the landing point meant that no one had gotten a hold of the Light, and very few were willing to try. The Light tended to draw people in, but that effect lessened the further away from it one was, and the danger of the climb combined with the distance meant that most people were able to resist the desire to acquire it.</p>
<p>So it should have been relatively easy. They weren't going to be stupid about their approach, of course, but they didn't have as much to worry about as usual, and they all had a lot of survival experience by now. This wasn't anything that they couldn't handle.</p>
<p>It was decided that Lup, Barry, and Lucretia would go after the object, while Taako, Magnus, and Davenport stayed on the ship. Merle had already been killed, and therefore couldn't help either way. An even split like that would ensure that both the excursion team and the ship were safe, and both parties were balanced, with each having one of the two heaviest hitters on the ship.</p>
<p>That kind of thinking was habit by this point, even if they weren't expecting major danger. It was just better to be safe.</p>
<p>Lup was excited about the mission, and who she was going on it with. She loved everyone on the crew, but they all had different personalities and senses of humor, and, while she certainly enjoyed a good party or low-brow joke herself, she liked to spend time with the two nerdiest members of the crew as well. Barry and Lucretia both had a tendency to be quieter and more serious, even if they definitely had their moments to the contrary, and while they weren't exactly overwhelmed by the louder voices of Magnus, Merle, Taako, and Lup herself, they didn't often fight to be heard either.</p>
<p>And Lup could admit to some nerdy tendencies in herself, (unlike Taako, who definitely had nerdy tendencies but refused to acknowledge them) and she enjoyed having time to discuss more academic and theoretical topics in depth from time to time.</p>
<p>Besides which, she always liked going places with Barry, even if this particular occasion wouldn't allow any alone time. It was nice to spend time with her boyfriend without the incessant teasing they had to endure at the hands of the rest of the crew. Lucretia might tease a little, but she was far less prone to teasing them about this than the rest of them were.</p>
<p>The Starblaster couldn't land right by the Light of Creation, given the rocky landscape, but it could get them fairly close, and it was a long but relatively easy hike from there. Lup had brought food in a picnic basket for when they got hungry, and there was a light breeze breaking the heat of the day. And when they were done, they'd be able to stop worrying about the Light for this cycle and just enjoy themselves and work on things they were interested in.</p>
<p>It had all the makings of a great day.</p>
<p>As they walked, they'd discussed the most interesting things that they'd noticed about this plane. When she and Barry started to discuss more sciency topics, Lucretia listened intently, scribbling in her journal every once in a while. Over the years, she'd developed her understanding of the scientific discussions that she, Barry, and Taako tended to delve into, but a lot of the time, she still preferred to listen in rather than contribute.</p>
<p>Lup wanted to encourage her to participate more in these conversations, but she could understand that Lucretia might just plain not be interested in the discussions. She hadn't studied science in school, and only minored in magical theory, so it was totally possible that she just didn't have fun talking about this stuff, and Lup didn't want to pressure her to do something she didn't like.</p>
<p>But every once in a while, Lucretia would chime in with a joke or suggestion, so Lup didn't feel like they were making her third-wheel too badly, and it was fun.</p>
<p>They got the Light without issue, but they took longer walking there than they'd expected, and they were only about halfway back when it started to get too dark for human eyes to see clearly.</p>
<p>Lup took the lead, as both the person with the most offensive magic of the three of them and the only one who wasn't hindered by the darkness around them. Lucretia and Barry had flashlights to carry, but those weren't nearly as helpful to them as Lup's darkvision was to her.</p>
<p>Their conversation died down a bit as they were making their way back. There wasn't much to be afraid of, really, but the dark was always a bit unnerving to most people, and almost everyone on the crew had at least a small degree of fear of the dark, after everything they'd experienced.</p>
<p>Poor Barry was one of the worse off though, and he kept jumping every couple minutes as he heard something or other rustling around.</p>
<p>"Here," Lucretia said, softly, to Barry, and Lup turned back curiously at the words.</p>
<p>Lucretia had grabbed Barry's hand to help keep him steady and moving forward, and the touch seemed to be helping to calm him a bit as well. Lup felt a quick wave of affection for both of her sweet humans, before turning back to keep a look out.</p>
<p>Even though there didn't seem to be any people coming after the Light, wild animals could still be a threat. And it was all the more important to be prepared, now that they had the Light in their possession.</p>
<p>It had an unfortunate habit of drawing people in, after all. And even monsters and animals could be affected by it at times, even if they were less prone to it, with their lower levels of intelligence. It was still a big, glowing ball of thrall to them, even if they didn't have the smarts to understand the potential it held.</p>
<p>It happened when they were taking a quick break to rest and get some water. They couldn't keep walking forever, after all, but still, Lup would be cursing the decision to stop there for weeks to come.</p>
<p>They were swarmed, suddenly, by some creatures that Lup had no name for, but they were clearly dangerous, with their giant claws and teeth. And they were bearing down on their group with a quickness.</p>
<p>Lup immediately moved to create a line of fire between them and the creatures, which would at the very least slow them down.</p>
<p>"Come on!" She shouted, and grabbed Lucretia's hand to pull her along, while Lucretia grabbed for Barry's hand.</p>
<p>Running through the dark with humans who couldn't see in the dark was not how Lup had wanted this day to end, but hopefully their linked hands would keep the other two a bit safer. She kept hearing hisses and exclamations of pain from Lucretia and Barry as they landed a bit off, but they hadn't fallen down yet, so they must be okay.</p>
<p>And then Barry made a sound that was much, much worse than the earlier ones.</p>
<p>Lup turned as soon as she heard the choked gasp from her boyfriend, only to see that he had been impaled through the chest on the claws of one of those creatures.</p>
<p>Lup and Lucretia immediately began firing off offensive spells, and the creature was downed before long, but that didn't fix Barry.</p>
<p>Lup dropped down to her knees to grab him, trying not to look at the wound too much. She'd seen enough to know it was fatal anyway, so she'd rather not have it burned into her memory any more than it already was.</p>
<p>Lucretia stood behind them, watching for any more of those things, but so far none had appeared. She kept her hands ready to fire off a shield spell, just in case.</p>
<p>"Sorry," Barry managed to say.</p>
<p>"You weren't aiming for this to happen, were you?" she said, with a teary laugh.</p>
<p>"No. Would rather not be doing this, actually," Barry chuckled. "Don't recommend. Still sorry though."</p>
<p>"Just two months left," Lup said. "It'll be fine. I'll be okay, don't worry."</p>
<p>She wasn't sure which of them she was trying to convince.</p>
<p>"Lup! I see more of them!" Lucretia warned, starting to cast.</p>
<p>"You gotta go, Lup. Get the Light back to the ship. I'm not gonna last much longer; don't risk it for me," Barry said.</p>
<p>"I'm not just gonna leave you, stupid!" Lup said back.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, babe. But you have to. I'll be okay, you know that. I don't want to get you or Lucy or this whole plane killed over me," Barry insisted, tone taking on a pleading note.</p>
<p>"I can't," Lup said, tears starting to slip down her cheeks.</p>
<p>It was the first time in a long time that she'd had such a hard time leaving when somebody was dying. It had been hard, at first, to accept that they would come back and that it was best to get yourself to safety, but they'd all come to relative terms with it.</p>
<p>But this was Barry. And it was the first time he'd died since they'd gotten together. And the thought of spending the next two months without him just killed her. What kind of person just left their boyfriend to die?</p>
<p>"Luce..." Barry turned his head. "Take care of her, please?"</p>
<p>"Of course," Lucretia agreed, her own voice a bit choked up as well, but still keeping her eyes on the approaching creatures. "We'll miss you. See you next cycle."</p>
<p>"See ya both soon," Barry assured them, and then he reached down and yanked the claw out of his chest, bleeding much faster now.</p>
<p>"No!" Lup screamed, but he was gone before she finished the word.</p>
<p>Lucretia moved then, grabbing Lup's hand and tugging her back toward the ship urgently.</p>
<p>Lup let herself be dragged along, but she didn't turn, staring back at Barry's body and crying.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Lucretia was murmuring as they ran, and Lup barely registered it.</p>
<p>They kept running, and eventually Lup stopped crying, but she still felt numb.</p>
<p>The creatures must have stopped chasing at some point, because they weren't behind them anymore. Maybe they'd only wanted a meal.</p>
<p>The thought of those things eating Barry made Lup feel sick, but she was too numb for the thought to sink in far enough for that.</p>
<p>Eventually, they slowed, and Lucretia wrapped an arm around Lup's shoulders in the closest thing to a hug they could safely allow themselves while they were still out in the dark with unknown, dangerous creatures everywhere.</p>
<p>Lup realized that Lucretia was still softly murmuring comfort to her, and she buried her head in Lucretia's shoulders and let herself be guided and comforted.</p>
<p>Lup barely registered it as they arrived at the Starblaster, but at least it was warm and bright in here.</p>
<p>Lucretia shouted for Taako, who arrived grumpily, but rushed to Lup immediately when he'd had a moment to take in the scene.</p>
<p>Lucretia extricated herself from Lup's grip, and Lup whined at that, until Lucretia pushed her forward into Taako instead.</p>
<p>"I'll take the Light to the lab," Lucretia said, softly, and Lup felt Taako nod in agreement.</p>
<p>Taako started to lead Lup to his room, probably understanding that she wouldn't be able to bear the sight of her room, that was now basically her-and-Barry's room most of the time. Lup appreciated it, because it was hard enough to just keep moving with the images running through her head on repeat.</p>
<p>She fell asleep that night curled around her brother, and it helped, but she knew that nothing would fix the whole in her chest until Barry came back. Maybe not even then.</p>
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